davidson



July 13,1926. 1,592,625 J. Lv. DAVIDSON v t LOOM Filed Jan. 14, 1922 5 SheetS-Sheei 2 July 13,1926. 1,592,625 1 J.'L. DAVIDSON LOOM Filed Jan. 14 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 its] Il elw mami/01 lll Patented July 13, i926.

UNITED STATES FTENT GFFICE.

JOHN i. AVDSON, OF CHARLOTTE, NORTE GARGELNA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ROBB, ROBE & HILL. A. COPARTNERSHP COMZEOSED OE TOI-IN F. ROBB, HARRY C. ROBE, AND HUGH S. HELL, OF CLEVELAND, OHO, AND WASHNGTON, D. C.

LOOM.

Application le Januaryl 14, 1922.

The present invention relates to improvements in looms, and more particularly rhas to do with a novel control means through the instrumentality of which the character of the weave may be changed so as to produce what are generally known as fancy fabrics, where the main body of the material is of one Weave and the borders of another.

The control means of this invention is especially adapted for use in the manufacture of terry pile woven towels, l1uclabacks and other do'bby woven towels, of handloerchiefs,` table cloths, scarfs, napkins, blankets, ginghams and the like, involving' a change of weave at the border.l

lt will be understood by those slrilled in the art of manufacture of textiles that fancy fabrics are generally woven into patterns of varying designs merely by the change of the type of weave. The extent and arrangement of these different weaves is produced by the throwing into operation at the proper time the mechanisms for the respective weaving, the changes being effected by pattern chains, the malte-up of which is necess-irily dependent upon the structure of the yarns or filling threads, that is, the size of the same, the actuating instrumentalities of the chains being set on the basis of the number of picks per inch. its there is a direct ratio between the number of picks and the increment of the pattern chains, there is always a diiiicult factor of reckoningl outside of multiples, in addition to the variation of lengths of fabric units due to inability to exactly calculate on the basis size of yarn, but only rendered apparent in the long run, whereby it has been heretofore impracticable to produce articles such as towels or napkins, etc., of an exact unit length. This necessitates in actual practice that the units of the fabric when woven be cut by hand.

it is an object of this invention to produce a control ofthe changes of weaves quite independent of the structure of the yarn and in direct ratio to the lineain'ieasure of the particular weave desired, so that each article is of the same exact length, renderingit possible, therefore,v to cut the units of the Serial No. 529,167.

Woven fabric by machine, a great laborsaving factor of itself.

To best understand the advantages of these improvement-s, it may be well to refer to the diflieulties or disadvantages of the present pattern mechanisms. In the welllmown types of terry'y looms of today, for example, utilized for the manufacture of suoli articles as Turkish towels, the change of weave ris produced by what is termed a pattern chain which is moved step by ste through a complication of mechanism, and determining by its malte-up the weaving of the terry and plain portions of a fabric to the desired extent and sequence. The-sc chains yrequire the best part of the loom tiners vtime and attention, and for many reasons they are the cause of loss of thousands of dollars worth of material annually, The chains are not only subject to break.- age but they are run heavily oiled, resultingl in gumming up after a few hours work to Vsuch an extent as to become deficient, and

the loom iixer in working upon the chains usually manages to transfer' much of the soil to the fabric which necessarily beconies a loss.

Aside from this, however, these chains require much slrill and labor in preparation` especially where the pattern is involved or the fabric unit is of some length., frequentlyv involving several hours in fabrication to produce the proper design, not overlool-.Ling the painstaking arithmetical calculatiore based upon the number of thi' yads 'o n in determining the proper setting of 1 changing inst "innentalities, Even with thc best of skill and experience it is diiiicult to malte the proper allowance for variation in the filling threads or the cornpactness of the weaving as hereinbefore premised, so that the repeat weave during the continu( us weaving operation does not correspond to the speciiications as regarcs length the plain and terry weaving and in consequence the length of the article. This in itself necessitates the rebuilding of the chains a number of times.

lt has therefore been my prime object to simplify the processof manufacture by an elimination of these and other difficulties,

Cil

by providing a pattern control of such posi* tiveness of action that in an actual test aI variation of a iiftieth of an inch in a long` run of hundreds of towels did not occur.

lviy invention is therefore designed Vprimarily as a` positive control for lengtlisand sequenceofvarietiesof weaves. l

Y iii-itsapplication i am fableto entirely disoense with theconvention al pattern chain, andwith it theL greater' part of the labor and time consumed in .the construction thereof, to say nothing of the initial heavy expense ofthe chain head construction, ;inaking it. entirely feasible for the loom fixer to take over `intofhis "care more than a third more looms, conservatively speaking.

in the 'carrying out ofn'iy invention, the priuiaryfeature ofthe device takes the form of a cfariieror endless circuitcloser,l the surface of Vwhich embodies nonconductiif'e and conductive ymaterial so 'arranged' that through ythe instrumentality Vof an electro'- inagnet operatively connected with the terry 'motion Ain the terry 'loom adap'tatiom'the weave vof the fabric is changeableinstantly and precisely in accord with the design determined Eby the Yrelative spacing' between the conductive or circuit-closings` sections of the carrier member which,- furthermore, vis positively driven synchronously with the movement of the fabric `to thereby insure reproduction of eXactnessof lengths of the varieties of weaves. It will therefore be seen that have devised an electro-mechanical innovation in pattern control mechanisms,

of such a simple character as to make it pos-V vmay be most easily/"understood by its applica-l tion to the terry loom for weaving `of double pile fabrics such as Turkish towels in which it is customary to produce a'pattern by the VAchange from terry l,weave to plain weave atV the ends` of the towels in sequence any number of times, forming stripes of plain and terry' fabric. It is the extent and arrangementof these sections of weave which the presentinvention is designed to automaticalli7 control.

.lt is,of course, quite well known that `the terry weave. and plain weave in toweling is governed mainly'by the extent of'th'e beat- Vup movement'of the beat-up reed; that is to say, *duringi kplain weave, the reedv has imparted to 'it f full Vvforward movement "after 'ea'ch'picl/i, whereas' in terry weave the Areed is given only a partial forward movement for several picks and then a full movement, resulting in the formation of the loops due to the fact that here is but slight tension on the terry warp at the full beat-up of the reed, while the ground warp remains under full tension. Therefore, to control the type of weave, it is but necessaryto regulatethe beat-up vto give full forward movement after each pick during plain weave, `and"partial .forward movement in sequential steps followed by a full forward beat' in terry weave. in theseimprovements, applied to the terry loom, the pattern control embodies certain Yoperative connections witlirthe terry motion.

though it may be said primarily thatthe v important feature of .my device resides Iin the provision of an electric control ofthe simplest character, eliminating` the most complicated mechanical structures which have heretofore been employed for producing kthe-saine results but in a less efficient manner and 'of an inferior character.

These and such'other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained bythenovcl construction, combination and arrangement of parts to `be hereinafter specifically described and claimed.

Vieference vwill now be had to the accompanyin drawingsv forming a ,part ofthis specification,:wherein: Y

Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a terry loom, .illustrating the `general mechanisin thereof and the application of my yinvention thereto.

Figure 2 is a detail fplan view of the cou` pling means for theV terry `motion showing; a portion ofthe actuating',connection oflmy invention therewith. 1

Figure 3 is an enlarged,fragmentary sectional view showing'the sand aroll andthe Acontact carrier or .pattern ,control member forming the primary feature of this invention. 1 i

Figure iis a View in elevation of this caprrier and the circuit closing` contacts therefor.

Figure 5 is a sectional view throup'lithe contact roller mountingonsthe line 5-5of Figure 1l. i Y

Figure 6 is a side elevation ofthe Vactuating electro-magnet used `in .this invention.

Figure 7 is a' View of thiselectro magnet -at right angles tothat ofFigure 6.

Figure Sisa dia,'ramrnaticviewy of Vthis Cil invention and the. operative connections with' certain mechanisms ofthe loom.,v s

lll

Figure 9 is a detail view of one of the contact plates for the carrier.

Figure l0 is a modiiied form of contact plate. K

Figure il isa detail view of the bell crank controlling the brake men'iber for theterry warp beam.

Figure 12 is a detail view of the bell crank controlling the terry motion coupling member.

Throughout the following detailed description and on Vthe several figures of the drawing, similar parts are referred ,to by like reference characters.

General mechanism of the terry Zoom.

Referring to the drawings, a sufiicient portion of the mechanism of a conventional terry loom is depicted in Figure l to illustrateV the application of my invention, and the operation of this mechanism is so well known to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates as to need no particular description thereof. It will suliice to mention that A designates the lay, and B the reed operated from the beat-up motion in the customary manner. Upon the rock or beat-up motion shaft C is loosely mounted the cam lever D carrying at its opposite extremity a roller engaging in the groove of the cam 'E mounted upon the back shaft- F. The rock shaft C, during plain weave, is rocked by the cam E back and forth at every revolution of this cam, which is so shaped that the said shaft is rocked for every full beat-up stroke of the reed, at every third forward beat of the lay, but, of course, the shape of the cam may r-eadily be vari-ed, as well known, to modify this ratio.

In order to do plain weaving it is only necessary that the cam lever D be unconpled so that at its forward end it turns loosely on the shaft C, whereupon th-e shaft is maintained in such position as to permit the reed to make its full stroke on the lay at every forward beat. i

rlhe operation of coupling and uncoupling of the cam leverto .the shaft C is produced automatically by the actuation of the terry or coupling lever G under the control of my special means which takes the place of the corresponding control in the usual leoni through the pattern chains.

Further referring generally to the terry loom mechanism, we note at H the terry warp beam having at one end the friction or brake drum l over which the friction strap J passes, one'end of said strap being fixed to the end of the whip roll rod as indicated at K. The connection of the other end will be referred to hereinafter. The woven fabric passes as usual around the sand or takeup roll L which is positively driven through a train of gearing, this takeup mechanism including the ratchet wheel M terial, has

with which the take up pawl N is associated assing now to the special subject matter of this invention, and referring more particularly to Figures 3 to 8 of the drawings, l employ as the main control feature a car rier member or belt l, which in the prese-nt adaptation is mounted upon one end of the sand roll, as shown best in Figure 3, so as to move synchronously with this roll and therefor-e in harmony with the movement of the fabric. l desire it to be understood, however, that the control member need not be arranged to cooperate with this roll essentially, for it is within the purview of my invention to dispose it elsewhere according to convenience. n fact, in some loom mech anisms, it would be impracticable to so arrange it with respect to the sand roll, in which event it mav be disposed at the most convenient position and positively driven so to mov-e in direct ratio to the movement of the fabric.

Vhile l have shown a plain, endless belt, it is further o be understood that this may be constructed to engage a sprocket member if deemed essential, that there may be no relative movement between the beltv andl the sand roll, this being merely mechanical variation within the skill of any workman in the art. The length of the belt is subject to modification to accord with the length of the unitary elements of the woven fabric or its ratio of travel with respect to the movement of the cloth. ln the form depicted the carrier frictionally engages the roll L and is held firmly in Contact therewith by a spring actuated friction roller F2- rnounted upon the frame of the loom. Pret erably an adjustable idling pulley or roll 3 suspended from the frame by the support ing bracket e is utilized to prevent the cai rior from flapping during travel.

rlhe carrier of leather, fabric or other mounted upon its surface at proper intervals determined the pat z to be woven, a series of metallic contati. plates the arrangement of the present ample being composed of three such plates, two relatively short, and one intermediate relatively long, the latter controlling` the weave at the end of the towel or er unit to be woven. Thus the surface of the carrier embodies conductive and nonronductive ierial, the former constituting circuit ing means. At this point it may be we explain tl it these thin plates are puri fully made detachalile so as to e` abie iheir positions to be changed as desired to effect changes in the pattern, and while in one forni they may be riveted securely in place, a very excellent and satisfactory modification of the plates is shown in l0 wheretti) in the metal 5 :is provided with sharpened, bendable tabs 5 designed to kbe .pressed through the material of the carrier and detachably held in position thereon.

At aconveni-eiit point, a pair of spaced cont-act rollers 6, 6' are mounted in a vU- shaped guide member 7 and insulated therefrom and outoffelectrical connection with 'each other, as best seen Vin yFigure 1i-,the guide member enge ging about the belt and serving to guide the same and beingmounted upon an adjustablebraclcet in Aturn secured :to the frame of the loom. rlhe shafts oftherollers G constitute binding` posts 9 to which are lled theelectric conductors `or Wires 10 in circuit with .any suitable source ofourrent at hand, a general indicationof which isdesignatedin Figure 8 `by the reference character 1,1. lnthis circuit, in additionto the switch 12, is larranged the elec tromagiiet 13, supportedatan elevated posiion upon the `fran'ie Aof the loom, and :enfibodying the core member llivhicli is designed to move vertically upwardly upon vthe closing of the circuit as the rollers G, (i

Ypass upon any one of the contact plates of the carrier. The actuating core is connected by the member to one arm of a bell crank 16 mounted upon the lower part of the loom, the other arm of which bell crank is connected by the member 17 to the lcou lino` or terr lock lever G hereinbefore mention-ed, yso `that during the travel of the rollers 6, 6 over the particular contact ,plate 5, this lever is held out of interlocking relation, and hence plain Weave is produced. Immediately the rollers', v6 passpfrom the plate-the circuit is broken, the solenoid core drops back, and the lever G again couples up the terry motion to continue the terry Weave.

It Will. be obvious, therefore, that by the arrangement of the plates 5 on tliecarrier, the changes in they Wea-ve are automatically produced according to the arbitrary spacing of the said plates, and the lengths thereof naturally re,(, ulate the extent of the particular weaves, so that a direct and elfectiv'ey vcontrol of both'sequence and lengths of the various weaves is simply procured, to modify which requires only the Avariation in the spacing arrangen'ient of the, plates and `their lengths.

By virtue of the use of the electric control these changes are instantaneous and therefore far superior to the operation of .change of Weave through the instrumentality of cams, such as embodied in known constructions of pattern chains .where the ridingl -to thc peaks of the cams involves such a space ottime relative to the picks as to be very noticeable in theresult of the'weave. It is needless to enlarge upon the advantages of this electric control in view of the preliminary explanation hereinbefore given.

Brake control.

The control, however, is of greater utility than that Just- 'desoribed In addition to the operative connection with the terrywinotiojn,

ltemploy this same solenoid as a control for thebrakuig operation of the terry `Warp beam H. To this endthe core 14' is connected by the member '18 with one yarm vcfa "second bell crank 19 arranged at the base of tlieloom frame, the other `,arin of u lii'ch bell crank 'has attached thereto the end `of the braking strap l'passing overthefrictioii drum l hei'einbe'fore mentioned. During terry Weave, the tensionis oif,"`tliat isfthe lstrap ,J is coniliiai'atively vl0ose,.but immediately the change to plain Weaye is produced,

as above described, the solenoid `shifts the fbell crank 19 and draws the strap J taut,

'exerting the desiredbralring action during this type of Weave to insure compactness I` thereof.

- Y 'aloe-2.1.72 control.

' The .foregoing control `as `to the `pattern and ybreaking operationdoes not exhaust the .application of my inventiontofloom mechanisms,as Willlbe apparent from further consideration of thediagrammatic showing Vin lFigure 8. As woll knownto artisans :Skilled in .Wea-ving, it becomes/desirable at-tiines to yinsure compactness of the .Weaving .tliattlie positive forward movement of the ,take-up be released iii-order that .the fabric may-.let

baclr, .in .changing from the terry ,toiplain aveavingras Well asduring the latter. is readily accomplished .many systemrof con- This trol by the provisionpof a `seresof Acontact plates :on the vcarrier ,.1 ,adjacent to the ipattern control contacts. VReferring .again to AFigure 8, these lspecial contact :plates are designated 2O and they iare arranged vin proper relation V to .the :plates 5., :One `of ithe rollers 6 for which lis disposed preferably to overlap the second series of plates. A `second contract roller .6a in circuit with second electromagnet 13 completes-the control onclusoii.

, `1t will be seen from the foregoing that in the Weaving of a Turkish towel of a length of 118 inches overall, for example,

`having aborder at each end ofthe itoiilel 2%- inch plain Weave, v1/2 `inch pile, inch alain. 3.1 inch olle, l-inch ilai'n, and then l s l l 3 7' inch pile ,in the maiirbod-y, it avould'be necessary simply to attach metal strips to `the carrier belt, one to .aggregate f5 inches .for the two Joining ends, then .a -space of .1/2 inch, :then a metal fplate;% meine t space 3@ inch, and then a l inch metal plate, 'lfhis Will positively hold the Weaving` operations to the exact lengths, regardless or the thread structure. itself', and obviously anylailuro on the part of thev tallzeeup paivl to vurnftion, due to `any drag against it or other cause, would not atleet the result, since't-L f: roll positively determines the length ol i, piece of fabric to be Woven as well as the change of Weave.

ln the case or liuclrs or other dobby ivoren towels, handl-erchielis, etc., it is immaterial whether the dobby has tivo cylinders or a double line or pattern pegs, for the control is designed to operate in the saine Way. That is to say, an operative connection trom he solenoid Would be run to the sivitch or the trip that is employed tor effecting the change of Weave.

The possibilities of this invention are probably est illustrated in connection with the manufacture ol' huclr towels. The simplest or the cheapest loom for this purpose is one containing a single action dobby, this type of mechanism being possibly the most easily'handled loom manutactured. Those yskilled in the art realize that to change the Weave at the borders in fabrics or this character a. very large amount ot box chain rigging is necessary to control the Weave that is produced by the dobby chain design. That is to say, it is required that a multiplier dobby be employed which with all the rigging costs about three times as much at the very least as the common dobby. l tind it entirely feasible to adapt my invention to a common single action dobby, and this simple mechanism will do just as goed work as any multiplying dobby costing, as above stated, a great deal more.

Therehas always been a desire on the part of towel manufacturers to put out a towel onr Which the border design would be printed in colors, but owing to the fact that it has heretofore been impracticable to make in the Weaving of toivels an article of a delinite length throughout the Woven piece, the mechanical printing o'l" suchborder dcsign Was found impracticable. However, with my system of control in use, the manufacturer is able to produce a fabric in Which the unitary tovvel lengths are of exact dimensions, and it now becomes possible to resort to the mechanical printing ot the border designs.

lt is needless for the purposes of this application to further enlarge upon the advantages of my system of control. It will, oin course, be apparent that changes may readily be made in the detailsoit construction of my apparatus Without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims hereto annexed.

Having thus described my invention,

what l claim as new and desire to secure Letters Patent is: l

l. ln loom apparatus, the combination mechanisms for pr ducing varieties of veaves to torni patterns, of electrically operative means to eliqect change from one c to another in a desired order, said vneans including a continuously traveling member movable synchronously with the travel ot the i'abric and having its suriace Jiormed of conductivek and nonconductive material.

2. ln loom apparatus having mechanism vfor producing variation in the Weaving to form patterns, the combination with a takeup roll and pawl therefor, olf a traveling pattern control cooperative With the take-up roll to move synchronously with the fabric, and having means 'tor etl'ecting changes in the iv iving and separate means for release otl the take-up roll to permit the fabric to let back. 'l

3. A terry loom having a continuously running cam, a cam lever acted upon by said cam, and a coupling member on said cam lever normally in coupling position, in combination with electric pattern control means for moving the coupling member to instantaneously uncouple the cam lever When plain Weaving is to be done.

4l. A terry loo-m having a continuously running cam, a cam lever acted upon by said cam, and a coupling member on said cam lever normally in coupling position, in combination with an electric pattern control embodying a series of Contact members arranged in position to close an electric circuit'during the movement thereof at predetermined times, and means in said circuit operatively connected with the coupling member to instantaneously uncouple the same under the control of said circuit-closing means when plain Weaving is to be done.

5. An electric control device `tor looms, comprising a carrier member adapted to be driven by the loom mechanism, and having its surface divided into electro-conductive sections and nonconductive sections arranged in the order ot the different weaves of thel pattern to be produced.

6. An electric control device for looms, comprising an endless carrier adapted to be positively driven by the loom mechanism and having upon its surface a series or' sections of conductive material arranged in spaced relation to accord With a particular type of Weave to be produced in the fabric, the length dimensions ot said sect-ions corresponding with the length dimensions o' the said particular type of Weave of the tabric.

7. An electric pattern control device for looms, comprising an endless carrier adapted to be driven in synchronism with the movement of the fabric, and having upon its surllO face' ai series of metallic contacts` 'detachably connected thereto in spaced relationK4 to ac,- cordvWith thefarrangement' and sequence of certain sections of" Weave to be produced in the woven'fabric. Y

8. In a terry loom, the' combination with the terry motion and a coupling member therefor, a terry beam and brakingT means therefor, of a pattern control device including an electrical circuit closer adapted to travel in synchronism with the fabric, and

an actuating magnet operatively Vconnected with the coupling; member-'and the braking` means for the'terry Warp beam, said n'iagnet being actuate-d incident to closingof thecircuit therefor whereby to produce plain Weave and simultaneously operative'to'eii'ect Y braking operation during suchplain weave.

9.111' loom apparatus, the combination v`with mechanism for producing varieties of' weaves, of electrically operative means*y to effect change froin one Weaveto another in a desired order, said means'including a continuously travelling*member movable" synn fabric.

'comprising an endless'member adaptedl to be driven by the loom mechanism and having its surface divided into -iveave-chalnge producing Vsections arranged in a desired order, certain of said sectionsbeing adapted to close an electric circuit and maintain it', predetermined length of Woven close-d for a l1. In loom apparatus for producing variation in the Weaving' to lorin patterns, the

combination with the atake up roll, of a pattern control'device cooperative with saidroll to movev synchronously with the fabric'and having its surface divided into Weave-change producing sections, the linear dimensions of which correspond to thelinear dimensions off the pattern elements Vto be Woven. l

In testimony whereof lL aiiiziny signature.

JOHN L. Y'DAV-inson; 

